Snapdragon
by Beautiful Thief
Summary: Why? It was something that she didn't quite understand.


*cough* Uhm. Yes. This is a challenge oneshot, written for The Domain's June 2009 Challenge.

The prompt was **marriage**, and had to include three themes or images, of which I chose **flowers**, **eyes** and **friendship**. You also had to use a character that wasn't the title character of many fics. Surprisingly, doing a percentage calculation, Terra has a relatively small percentage of fics where she's the main character, so I chose her.

I don't own the Titans. Have fun reading.

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In the midday sun, a small, blonde figure wandered slowly past a celebration, her bright blue eyes fixed on the ground as she walked. Her eyes flicked to watch them through the fence, the laughing people, with their happy expressions and easy countenances.

No one would believe these people were geared to turn to warriors at a second's notice. The redhead wearing the soft lavender dress, the black-haired boy – almost a man now – who watches her adoringly from his dark blue eyes. The large dark-skinned man, with his wide grin. All their friends, each of them a Titan in disguise, from the redheaded male, with the punky pink-haired girl standing awkwardly by his side, to the young children. Titans, all of them, a community that could, and had, proved to be almost unbreakable.

The girl looked closely, to make sure no one was watching her. All of them, absorbed in the party, did not notice her. She slipped in, hiding herself away in the darkness.

There they are. This celebration is for these two, the girl with the short violet hair and the restrained smile, and _him_; though his skin is pale and his hair is blonde, the eyes are unmistakable. The verdant green eyes watch his wife lovingly, and Tara wishes that things could have been different, because once upon a time, that could have been her.

The former Titan watched silently, while the blonde man wanders through his throng of guests, laughing at something the large man said, while his new wife simply rolls her eyes. Tara doesn't think he belongs with a creature such as her. She's so icy and silent, so demeaning. How could he love her, with all his warmth and his kindness?

She'd had her chance. Tara knew she'd had her chance. Two of them, even. And she'd turned him away, betrayed him the first time, deceived him the second. No, she did not deserve his love either.

The memory of the look on his face when he realised she was working for Slade still burned ever so clearly on the back of her retina. The sorrow, the anger, everything. And the cutting words he'd thrown at her, they too, still echoed in her head. _"You don't have any friends."_

Tara bit her lip to prevent tears. After she'd saved them, she'd been locked inside a body of stone, a consequence of overreaching her powers. Somehow, she'd broken free, and no one had been in the tower. The plaque at her feet had shamed her – she did not feel like either a Titan, nor the true friend they named her.

And she had run. And when they'd come back, _he_ had found her, and she feigned innocence, pretended that he was crazy, that she was just a normal girl, and she had walked away from him again, seeing the hope on his face wither away. And she'd promised she would never again hurt him like this. All she ever brought was pain.

So she sat, and watched the celebration quietly – as if, to see him safe and happy would ease her heavy heart.

"Hello, Terra."

Her eyes widened, and she stood and spun to face the stone-faced empath. She couldn't pretend now – she'd reacted to the name, and besides, Raven would see a lie in her.

"Hi, Raven," she replied quietly.

They stared at each other warily for a few moments, before the bride sighed.

"Why are you here, Terra?"

Tara looked away. "I... needed to make sure he was happy."

Something akin to pity flickered across Raven's face quickly, but it was gone before Tara could truly tell what it was. She put her hand on Tara's shoulder gently.

"You know, if you had truly wished it, you could have returned to the Tower," she told her. Tara turned away, and nodded.

"I know. But... I couldn't. I know you understand why."

Raven took her hand away. "I know. They still would have forgiven you."

Tara shook her head. "It's better this way."

"Raven?"

There was a call for the bride at the party. She scowled, but still she turned to return to the party.

"Terra... there are always friends for you at Titan's Tower, whether you would like to be with them or not. Remember that."

She walked away, and didn't look back.

Tara too, left her dark spot, and left the celebrations. She'd always known she'd be welcome at the Tower, and she'd never needed to be told that, not even by the person she'd always considered the most spiteful of all the Titans.

As she walked, she tugged a small purple flower from a bush, and spun it in her fingers.

Maybe she understood how he could love Raven after all.

* * *

If you read this because you have me on alert and you're waiting for something else... I'm sorry, you won't be seeing much of my old stuff being updated in the near future.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading it.


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